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Book reviews
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ONE GOOD TURN
Kate Atkinson Doubleday £17.99
With the buzz of the Edinburgh
Festival as its backdrop, Whitbread Book of the Year-winner Kate
Atkinson's latest novel deftly weaves together a miscellany of
stories from all walks of life into a finely wrought tapestry of a
tale.
When a random queue forming outside a
tiny festival venue witnesses a shocking road rage incident, there
are huge repercussions for everybody involved, from the hapless
victim to the disparate folk who witness his plight.
There's Martin, a blancmange of a man
whose claim to fame is that he writes best-selling detective stories
that sound like a cross between Biggles and Enid Blyton. Then
there's Gloria, a middle-aged, middle class woman whose builder
husband is due to go to jail for fraud.
And let's not forget the return of
Jackson Brodie, an ex-copper, ex-army, and ex-private detective with
a hugely complicated private life, who is also an innocent bystander
until he becomes a suspect.
These are very different people, whose
only connection is that they saw a crime being committed, but like
the Russian nesting dolls, which make many an appearance in this
book, they all somehow fit together.
POUND FOR POUND
F.X. Toole Harvill Secker £12
F.X. Toole, best-known as the writer
of the Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby, utilises all his
experience as a former professional boxing trainer and licensed cut
man to provide the material for this posthumous novel.
Pound for Pound revolves around the
life of Dan Cooley, who has lost his long-term wife and all of his
children due to separate, unfortunate circumstances. The one thing
keeping him going is the responsibility bestowed upon him in
bringing up his grandson, Tim Pat, who unwittingly rescues him from
his loneliness and despair.
When Dan, a legendary trainer, schools
Tim in what they recognise as the 'sweet science', he sees a natural
athlete emerge, and suddenly the possibilities are endless. But when
a cruel twist of fate intervenes, darkness overwhelms the
narrative.
Interwoven into this story is the tale
of Eloy Garza, a has-been fighter who is battling his own demons.
Struggling to help his grandson Chicky to realise his potential, he
sends him in search of the gifted trainer in order to fulfil his own
dreams of greatness.
DADDY'S GIRLS
Tasmina Perry Harper Collins £10
Glamour sex and scandal are the
requirements of any successful summer read, and it's in full
overflow here in Daddy's Girls.
The novel focuses on the wealthy
Balcon family. When Oswald, the head of the family, is found dead,
the finger of suspicion points to his four privileged and successful
socialite daughters.
More at home in glossy society
magazines such as Vogue and Tatler than the tabloids, glam designer
Venetia, lawyer and rising political star Camilla, feisty magazine
editor Cate, and actress Serena may all have killer heels, but does
one of them have a killer instinct too?
Their glitzy lives have always been
played out under the watchful eye of the paparazzi, but only they
know what happens behind closed doors. As we take a peek backstage
into their polished lives, we discover that Oswald wasn't the doting
and loving father his public image has always made him out to
be.
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